Nine civilians killed in Afghan raid

PESHAWAR: At least nine civilians were killed and eight others were wounded in a raid by Afghanistan’s troops in eastern Nangarhar province on Monday night.

Afghan media quoted the provincial governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khoghyani as saying on Tuesday that the night raid was conducted in Dawlatzai area of Chaparhar district by special forces.

The spokesman said nine civilians, including a local police commander and relatives of the Senate chairman Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, were killed.

Provincial governor Hayatullah Hayat told a foreign news agency that gunfire had been coming from the house that was raided but the casualties were identified as mostly civilians once the operation ended.

The Afghan government has ordered inquiry into the incident.

The Taliban and the Islamic States militants are active in eastern Afghanistan.